1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates generally to accessing information on a network, and more particularly, to a system and computer-based method for providing easy access to sites on the World Wide Web.
2. Related Art
A vast array of electronic information infrastructures are rapidly being assembled and used by individuals, organizations, businesses and industry to facilitate the exchange of information and data across both near and far distances. As available computing power at a given price point is increasing, personal computers, workstations and other computing devices are finding their way onto more desktops, into more offices, and into more working environments than ever before imagined. These computing devices are used as the links into the information infrastructure, allowing all forms of electronic communications and data exchange.
This rise of electronic communication is a world-wide phenomenon, globally affecting personal lives as well as all facets of business and industry. Be it a local area network linking a few computers together in close proximity, or a wide area network providing information exchange around the globe, more and more businesses and individuals are turning to communications and data exchange via this electronic infrastructure. The electronic information infrastructure is reaching business operations from manufacturing and production to research and development, sales and commerce.
This electronic information infrastructure has become a common source of news, information and entertainment for computer end-users. In this regard, consider the Internet, for example. The Internet is a world-wide set of interconnected computer networks that can be used to access a plethora of information in various forms.
Computer end-users employ network addresses to locate information on the electronic information infrastructure. For example, on the Internet, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are used to specify sites such as servers within the World Wide Web (WWW; or the “web”). The web is a distributed hypermedia system and functions as a client-server based, information presentation system.
Files on the web are also referred to as “pages,” and are written in HyperText Mark-up Language (HTML). Web pages include hyperlinks to other files. Web pages are typically viewed using an application program called a web browser (also known as an “internet browser” or “browser”), such as Netscape Communications Corporation's (Mountain View, Calif.) NetScape™ browser.
Conventionally, in order to access a network location, an end user must first open a browser application and then enter the URL of a desired network location. The browser connects to the web via a modem or other conventional network interface, thus permitting the user to read and interface with the accessed network location.
The following are example URL formats:                file://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/msdos/graphics/gifkit.zip        ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors        http://www.w3.org:80/default.html        news:alt.hypertext        telnet://dra.com        
The first part of the URL, before the colon, specifies the access method. The part of the URL after the colon is interpreted in accordance with the access method specified (for example, ftp is file transfer protocol and is command line-based). In general, two slashes after the colon indicate a machine name (machine:port is also valid).
Having to first access a web browser and then type-in a network location's URL can be tedious. Some browsers permit the user to store frequently accessed network locations to facilitate accesses. This is accomplished through the use of what is sometimes referred to as a bookmark. Through the use of a bookmark, once a browser is opened, the user may be able to quickly access a favorite site by selecting a bookmark previously designated to mark the location of that site.
Increased accesses by individual users on a day-to-day basis demands a more efficient method for accessing network locations.
What is needed is a convenient method to access network locations without having to open a browser and key-in the desired site's URL.